And so—amazingly!—the city managed to claw its way to the #1 spot on another national survey. This time it is tops in… no, not auto thefts or graffiti. Rather: foreclosures! That’s right, in Stockton a higher percentage of residents are defaulting on their home loans than anywhere else in the country, bar none!

Now, you might be thinking, that isn’t too surprising. After all, last year the city was also primero in illiteracy, and was forecasted to suffer the greatest home depreciation rate in the nation. So if you were thinking this latest award was hardly unexpected, of course you were right. But let’s give Stockton credit where credit is due. This could very possibly be a rare, shining moment in the armpit-of-California’s history, a time that will be looked nostalgically upon in a few years from now when the town returns to loserdom.